What Is The TAA?
The Trade Agreement Act was passed on the twenty-sixth of July, 1979. It was a congressional act whose purpose primarily pertained to negotiations made between the United States and foreign powers as regards trade agreements. Specifically, the trade act of 1979 governs agreements which were made between the US and other countries during the Trade Act of 1974. The purposes of this act are mainly implementation of 1974 agreements, but the act still has effect today. This is because it was also designed to help open up the trading system of the world with expanded commerce opportunities conducted under improved international trade regulation and enforcement. While written with open language, this language can have a restrictive nature when it comes to the acquisition of goods or services that will be used in federal contracts. This happens when those managing a project decide to run it through a TAA compliance check. Generally, products remain compliant so long as they’re manufactured in either the US or one of a list of designated countries that are allowed. Those countries include:
- Canada
- Mexico
- Singapore
- Australia
- Countries in the WTO GPA (World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement)
- Afghanistan
- Bangladesh
- Laos
- Ethiopia
- The Caribbean Basin (Aruba, Haiti, Costa Rica)
How Does The TAA Pertain To Surgical Trays?
So long as surgical trays you’ve purchased are produced in any of these countries, they should, by default, be TAA compliant. The difficulty comes with the implements that are contained in those trays. Sometimes medical breakthroughs come in the form of a new surgical tool that just hasn’t made its way into mainstream America yet, but is all the rage in England–which, if you’ll notice, is not on that list. Neither is Russia, China, or Japan; all of which being countries with exceptional technology who do make medical advances where the United States has yet to. In order to be sure that all equipment on your custom medical trays passes a TAA compliance check, you need to know that the vendors of the tools you’re purchasing have updated part numbers for their products in the DAPA Management System. Information to be included in the update pertains to the country from which a given product has been sourced.
Bureaucratic Minutiae
As is the case with any bureaucracy, critical thought is not always a prime motivator of action. Adherence to legal injunctions are. Ergo, even if something is essential to preserving the health of a patient, you may encounter resistance if you’ve ordered a tray with implements on it that aren’t TAA compliant. Health concerns are often not the prerogative of bureaucratic compliance checkers; the rules are their bread and butter. When you decide to order custom surgical trays, be sure that their production comes from a company that has properly sourced all part numbers for their products in the DAPA Management System. Otherwise the health of your patients may be compromised by a bureaucratic system gone out of control.
Maintaining Health Requires Direct Attention
The health of your community could depend on whether or not you’ve received the proper order of custom surgical trays. Such trays are usually sterilized beforehand, and are already configured in ways surgeons can immediately utilize. The longer someone is under the knife, the less likely their health will be in strong condition. Streamlined surgical tray procedures can facilitate quicker operation, leading to faster recovery and better health over time. But bureaucracy can get an entire shipment of trays recalled, which is surely good for no one’s health. Ergo, TAA compliance is more than a bureaucratic issue, it’s a health concern too.
